stokesda
My other car is a 4-8-4
Good call. I just picked up a bunch off the Walthers website for $2-$4 each. Much cheaper than the Athearns for $20+ per set of 3. IMO, the Athearn models are kind of overpriced for what they are. They're nice looking models, but still overpriced. It's a plastic box, for crying out loud! It doesn't do anything! How can they cost $7 each? But if you think about it, a boxcar is basically the same thing with trucks, wheels, and couplers, and the minimum price for those things is about double.
One thing I found about the Walthers and Athearn containers is that they don't stack on each other very well, because the locating pins are ever so slightly offset from each other.
If you want cheaper than the Walthers containers, there are two options. Print the cardstock versions off your computer, or you might be lucky and find some old Athearn Blue Box container kits in an LHS somewhere.
The problem I found with printing the containers from the computer is that they don't scale out exactly right for HO. I had to manipulate the dimensions a little bit in Photoshop to get the proportions exactly right. It was a PITA, but turned out OK. In the end, I decided it was better to plunk down the cash and just buy the 10 containers I needed.
